Gift registries are well known. There are common situations in which a person creates a gift registry, for example in anticipation of a wedding or the birth of a child. Traditionally, for example, when a couple decides to marry, they will go to one or more stores, register for that store's registry, and select items at each store that they would like to receive as gifts. The selected items are then added to the registry. Each particular store registers the name of the couple and the gifts that they have selected. The registry is often nothing more than a log book. In recent times, the registry has become a computer database that is available for interaction by a touch screen or other type of computer in-store or online either at home, at the office or elsewhere.
Typically, a person creating a gift registry must first provide personal information, such as identification information (i.e., name, address, phone number, etc.) to the store to “register” or create an account before creating or completing a registry list. This registration process requires time and effort on the part of the registrant to provide the identification information including possibly standing in a line to speak with the appropriate person at the store, waiting for the information to be entered or the list to be printed, and any number of other complications, such as printer or computer malfunctions. The registration process further frequently requires time and effort on the part of a store employee to enter information from the registrant and create the registry.
FIG. 1 shows a typical configuration of equipment necessary to facilitate gift registration in a store according to the prior art. Customers typically have limited time to utilize a store gift registry and when complications present themselves, there is frustration and possibly abandonment of the registry process. There is a need in the art, therefore, for a gift registry that permits registration and addition of gift items to the registry without requiring registration.
Currently, gift registries are used for storing and providing lists of gifts which the registrant desires to receive. Thus, the gift registry lists desired items and, typically, whether such items have been purchased. Gift registries of the prior art do not list items owned by the registrant that were not placed on the registry. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a gift registry system that allows registrants to register product items that they currently own.